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Death Stranding |OT| Keep Walking, Nothing To See Here

Wink

Member
Ok, guys, please tell me the game stays as interesting past the third chapter. If it does it might be the best game Kojima has ever done gameplay wise and one of the best games ever.
I love Death Stranding, but honestly it's not on the level of gameplay that MGSV was. I'll reserve judgment until I've really exhausted it and played around with everything, I just can't imagine it can compete with the insane amount and variety of approach and detail when it comes to emergent gameplay systems of V. Doesn't mean it's not a sensational outing especially considering the development time and amount of new ideas, but man, MGSV was an experimental gamer's wet dream. So much simulation and feedback for every little thing you can think of doing and then some.
 

SLB1904

Banned
also about the porters

you can put down a cargo that you're carrying as well, and they will pick it up. And you'll get something nice in return too ;) -from reddit
 

Terenty

Member
I love Death Stranding, but honestly it's not on the level of gameplay that MGSV was. I'll reserve judgment until I've really exhausted it and played around with everything, I just can't imagine it can compete with the insane amount and variety of approach and detail when it comes to emergent gameplay systems of V. Doesn't mean it's not a sensational outing especially considering the development time and amount of new ideas, but man, MGSV was an experimental gamer's wet dream. So much simulation and feedback for every little thing you can think of doing and then some.

I dunno man, maybe i'm not the type to really appreciate the sandbox nature of a game, always going with the most straightforward solution and that's why i didnt really play around in Mgs5 (its still a great game, put 100 hours), but in DS i feel like every system serves its purpose, like there's nothing that feels obsolete or tacked on. So far at least

You really need vehicles, generators, postboxes, bridges, resources, roads etc etc. And the whole community aspect is honestly amazing.
 
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MiguelItUp

Member
Just about. There's a lot more to see and do. :messenger_smiling_with_eyes:
Good GOD this has me so hyped. I'm already all in and so in love and only at Episode 3, lmao.

Also, to reply to a few posts ago, I haven't noticed ANY pop-in or loss in frames on a PS4 Pro. Picture and texture quality looks great on my display, but that all really depends on the display you'd have I'd imagine. Well, at least a bit. Have people been mixing up the purposeful enemy encounter slowdown as loss of frames? Lmao.
 

Wink

Member
I dunno man, maybe i'm not the type to really appreciate the sandbox nature of a game, always going with the most straightforward solution and that's why i didnt really play around in Mgs5 (its still a great game, put 100 hours), but in DS i feel like every system serves its purpose, like there's nothing that feels obsolete or tacked on. So far at least

You really need vehicles, generators, postboxes, bridges, resources, roads etc etc. And the whole community aspect is honestly amazing.
Yeah, I'm not usually thinking in terms of necessity, but possibility. Glad it works so well for you. It's not a fair comparison considering how much more time he had with MGSV anyway. If they had all the money and time in the world I'm sure he could have topped the depth of gameplay in that game with DS. And it's a well put together package that prioritises the right elements. It's just hard to overlook some of the stripped down nature of some things in Death Stranding compared to MGSV, even if the new stuff makes up for a lot and is very compelling in itself.
 

MiguelItUp

Member
And if it’s normal, it’s a crappy effect.
You think so? I actually thought it was awesome, TBH. Because you can be taking in the environment, no real concern in the world. Then it happens and you're suddenly like, "Oh god..."

I feel it's an interesting way for the game to be like, "YO, PAY ATTENTION! THINGS ARE HAPPENING!"

With the MULEs I love it just because it makes me feel accomplished, lmao. The MULEs haven't really posed a major threat for me yet, just an annoyance. But it's still enjoyable AF to take them all down, haha. Especially when they're falling off ledges or into streams in slow-mo, lol.
 

#Phonepunk#

Banned
damn TIL about the Fragile fast travel. i saw that cutscene but i just never hovered over the umbrella. now im back in the first area doing a bunch of stuff i overlooked. and i finally got a truck!
 

MiguelItUp

Member
damn TIL about the Fragile fast travel. i saw that cutscene but i just never hovered over the umbrella. now im back in the first area doing a bunch of stuff i overlooked. and i finally got a truck!
I absolutely love the "realistic" aspect of the fast traveling too. Where if you use it, you really only transport yourself and your cargo/gear stays behind. I thought it was an interesting take.
 
Spent quite some time fixing the roads. Only two sections in the middle of the map are missing. You can avoid most hazards if you stay on the road.
When i can't rely on roads my prefered method of delivering goods is to wear speed legs and to carry my cargo on floating carriers.

In chapter 3...
Was that cosplayer I just met played by fucking Conan O’Brien?! Omg, Kojima, lol!
 
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Tiamat2san

Member
if you mean the slowdowns to warn you about bts?
yeah that's normal
No when it’s raining but Not bt black rain.
i know it’s slowing down on purpose when it’s starting to rain, my problem is after .
when it’s raining and you are on a road with a bike at full speed, it’s terrible.
 

SLB1904

Banned
No when it’s raining but Not bt black rain.
i know it’s slowing down on purpose when it’s starting to rain, my problem is after .
when it’s raining and you are on a road with a bike at full speed, it’s terrible.

Yeah I know what you mean. I think they overlooked that.
It's distracting for sure
 

Arachnid

Member
I absolutely love the "realistic" aspect of the fast traveling too. Where if you use it, you really only transport yourself and your cargo/gear stays behind. I thought it was an interesting take.
Seems pretty pointless honestly. I find myself avoiding it just so I don't have to remember where I left all my gear. It's really only used for traveling between maps.
 

MiguelItUp

Member
Seems pretty pointless honestly. I find myself avoiding it just so I don't have to remember where I left all my gear. It's really only used for traveling between maps.
Exactly! That's actually another aspect of it that I really enjoy! Call me crazy, but I like the fact that there's a give and take about it. I've only fast traveled once, and honestly, I don't think I'll do it again for the exact same reason as you. But it's cool to know it's there I suppose. I just thought it was approached in an interesting way.
 

Arachnid

Member
Exactly! That's actually another aspect of it that I really enjoy! Call me crazy, but I like the fact that there's a give and take about it. I've only fast traveled once, and honestly, I don't think I'll do it again for the exact same reason as you. But it's cool to know it's there I suppose. I just thought it was approached in an interesting way.
Yeah that's true. I could see it being more useful in the postgame when you don't have any scripted combat encounters and the map is all filled out with roads and ziplines, At that point, grenades and guns wont matter and we can teleport wherever to grind out deliveries
 

D-Dude

Member
damn TIL about the Fragile fast travel. i saw that cutscene but i just never hovered over the umbrella. now im back in the first area doing a bunch of stuff i overlooked. and i finally got a truck!
Yup, happened to me too. Although I was searching for the
MULE Camp and the system server
and ended up in the first area for hours.. wandering around looking for that fucking thing...
But how do you get that
car?
 
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Tiamat2san

Member
Yeah I know what you mean. I think they overlooked that.
It's distracting for sure
It’s far from unplayable, sometimes it’s worse than others.
I made a clip, I’ll upload it later .
But it seems it’s worst after a few hours of play.
Maybe it’s overheating after 6 or 7 h session (damn I’m addicted to this game...)
My point was to say the game is not as perfect (frame rate) as everyone says it is.
That’s all.
 

nowhat

Gold Member
In chapter 3...
Was that cosplayer I just met played by fucking Conan O’Brien?! Omg, Kojima, lol!
Yup, that was "spoiled" beforehand. But what really got me with that character was
"You're the first audience I've had in 12 years!". I know Conan isn't that popular nowadays, and he (like every good comedian) is known for self-depreciating humour, but ouch. Truth hurts, doesn't it.
 
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SLB1904

Banned
It’s far from unplayable, sometimes it’s worse than others.
I made a clip, I’ll upload it later .
But it seems it’s worst after a few hours of play.
Maybe it’s overheating after 6 or 7 h session (damn I’m addicted to this game...)
My point was to say the game is not as perfect (frame rate) as everyone says it is.
That’s all.
Eh i doubt is perfect. But I'm not to fuss about frame rate. Framerare only bothers me when it's choppy.
More than 5 seconds of choppy frame rate.
I normally play on pc with high frame rate and death stranding feels great so yeah no complaints in that regard, so far so good.
 

MiguelItUp

Member
Same shit. That game is mgs as fuck.

Bola gun sounds like the sleep gun from mgs.

Cut scene and everything.

Mgs is my favourite franchise ever
Yeah there's so much here that reminds me of MGS, kind of hard for it not to. Well, and not just because it's another Kojima game, haha.

Comm calls alone were enough to make me think of MGS, haha. The little jingles you hear here and there as well. Honestly there's quite a bit that channeled that feeling.
 

SLB1904

Banned
Can someone help me with this
I don't what is that exclamation mark. I think is other player delivery my stuff but I don't know how to access it
 

imsosleepy

Member
bola gun is 1000 times more fun then the sleep gun from mgs in my opinion! It is sooooo satisfying! and the animation when it pops out of the box and ready to shoot.. god dam. so many great details, yet so hated by reviewers. im stil really salty about it. It deserves the same praises red dead got :(

Cant believe they made this in 3.5 years dam, they sure are one of the most talented teams out there.

Today I finally understood what most of you have been up to lately as well.. Finally unlocked the roads and the mule car. lol spend over 6 hours just driving around, getting materials, building roads. and geezus when u see it pop up that someone used your road! thats amazing :D
This game has such a nice multiplayer aspect but none of the reviewers seemed to really have touched it due to only playing with a few people unlike us who have full servers of crazy people who are far in the game already and help out alot

Its so unique, he truly made a new kind of online aspect to a 'single' player game
 

Kenneth Haight

Gold Member
So just got to episode 3. You guys are using “chapters” and I’m assuming that’s the same thing?

loving it so far. Haven’t even got premium deliveries yet. But looking to platinum this. I know it will take a long time, but does anyone know the format, I know for the hardest trophy you have to do all premium deliveries on hard and get a legend of legends rank. So can you just switch to hard before you set off on that mission? It’s hard to know and haven’t seen any definitive answers from my google searching.

I’m playing on hard at the minute and took down a camp of mules pretty easily. Got grabbed by a BT though and flung across a lake, and the ground melted. It was insane, I managed to escape though but my cargo was all beat up and if I can avoid that later on at endgame it may make the platinum easier.

loving the game so far and this OT is nice and friendly. I can understand why some will hate this game Though. It’s not a pick up and play type of game. That’s what I like though, the investment of time feels meaningful and the story is just Kojima batshit crazy which I love.
 

#Phonepunk#

Banned
still lingering in Chapter 3. there is just so much to do in this game. may just spend a dozen hours in this Chapter alone!

the game is so fun in a compulsive way. constantly you are filling up meters, building on the world, discovering new things, things which are not pointless but tend to have immense payoff. the game is a smorgasbord of fun toys and neat things to see and every minute you move the needle forward, it is so gratifying to do nearly anything. the game has hundreds of fetch quests but somehow they are all worth doing. you WANT to do them.

for instance i had overlooked the Ludens Fan side ops from early in the game. i did not even seek it out but somehow ended up nearby while making another delivery, and while walking with my floating cargo, came upon a Ludens Fan package. the site was nearby so i went and had an enjoyable time watching this celebrity act out a cool little scene. it kind of makes sense that in a post apocalypse some of the people living in expensive elite bunkers would be wealthy celebrities anyways.

he had some funny dialog and agreed to join the network. one more strand for the UCA! now, his area is connected, the infrastructure and buildings made by other players is now revealed, making the act of getting around easier. the game rewards you by doing all this labor by making things easier, and more fun, to do. so what could have been a pointless fetch quest ended up benefiting me in a large way. and now i am off to steal a T-Rex model from a nearby enemy camp for him! this is great game design!
 
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MiguelItUp

Member
I guess when there are a few more done we can start one but nobody should feel rushed, I'm just gonna build some roads and stuff.... still have to find Conan.
Good point! Hell yeah, I'll be doing the same as soon as I'm done. But I'm gonna try to be better about doing more of that here and there while playing through. You haven't found him yet?! Yesssss, do it!
 

Bryank75

Banned
Good point! Hell yeah, I'll be doing the same as soon as I'm done. But I'm gonna try to be better about doing more of that here and there while playing through. You haven't found him yet?! Yesssss, do it!
Yeah, I have a feeling I am still missing a few people but I am happy about that. It's great having stuff left to do.... for me anyway!
 

Silent Duck

Member
WTF, this game man!

Just when I was doing a another mundane delivery, BB failed to alert me to BT’s in the area. They chase me down and grab me. I shake myself free but lose three packages. Like an idiot, before losing the BTs, I go back for the packages.

That’s when I notice the black ocean appearing all around me and see all the submerged buildings. I start hopping from one floating debris to the next while avoiding this aggressive tentacled faced, whale thing. I managed to get to a lopsided building and climb on the roof for safety.

The damned whale thing keeps leaping at the roof, knocking my Sam around. I crouch behind a rooftop air conditioner and hope the whale goes away. It doesn’t. It slams into the building repeatedly, causing the building to collapse and submerge. I hop across more debris until, eventually, the rain lets up and the scenery becomes dry and normal again.

My Sam is all banged up and I just barely get into the distribution center safely. With three packages missing. Now I have to go back and get them to complete the delivery.

I was all set to give up on this game, but then that heart pounding shit happened. Bravo, Kojima! You magnificent madman! Bravo!
 

Bryank75

Banned
WTF, this game man!

Just when I was doing a another mundane delivery, BB failed to alert me to BT’s in the area. They chase me down and grab me. I shake myself free but lose three packages. Like an idiot, before losing the BTs, I go back for the packages.

That’s when I notice the black ocean appearing all around me and see all the submerged buildings. I start hopping from one floating debris to the next while avoiding this aggressive tentacled faced, whale thing. I managed to get to a lopsided building and climb on the roof for safety.

The damned whale thing keeps leaping at the roof, knocking my Sam around. I crouch behind a rooftop air conditioner and hope the whale goes away. It doesn’t. It slams into the building repeatedly, causing the building to collapse and submerge. I hop across more debris until, eventually, the rain lets up and the scenery becomes dry and normal again.

My Sam is all banged up and I just barely get into the distribution center safely. With three packages missing. Now I have to go back and get them to complete the delivery.

I was all set to give up on this game, but then that heart pounding shit happened. Bravo, Kojima! You magnificent madman! Bravo!
Keep with it, it gets crazier! Some awesome boss battles etc.
 

nowhat

Gold Member
Finished the game myself. Lots of side content left unseen - I do this always, I'll rush through the main story, and if I like the game enough, do a more completionist run later on.

And this game has so many elements that I just about tolerate at best. I really don't care for inventory/resource management, and that's much of the game. And the controls/UI for all that juggling can be quite fiddly. Adding insult to the injury are those meticulously crafted animations. They're fine for the first time you see them, but repeated over and over.... no, it's not fun. Case in point, taking a shower. Sure, you can skip the cutscene. There can be up to four (like what the actual fuck) cutscenes you have to skip manually. I'd be perfectly happy with Sam just going into the shower and getting a notification for an item, but here we are. Most of the NPCs remain as hollow as the holograms they are, spamming my inbox afterwards won't change it. Mission variety is almost non-existent. The various stat points you get for completing missions seem mostly irrelevant. MULEs are quite dull as enemies, and while initially there's some intrigue in going through the BT sections, as you gather more gear they just become a chore. Stealth is quite rudimentary at best. And while I knew what I was getting into with a Kojima game, the plot can be all over the place at times. Some of the themes are hammered down so hard it makes David Cage seem subtle.

So I basically should hate this, right? Nothing could be further from the truth. It's not the destination but the journey, and that definitely applies here. When talking about vertical traversal in open-world games, there are basically three variants. First, there's the "Bethesda model", in that you're not supposed to cross that mountain, but if you nudge and jump enough you can. Then there's what I'll call the "Uncharted model", where you'll be able to climb only on predefined paths - this makes for good cinematics, but poor gameplay. And then there's the "all-in model", where you can climb pretty much everything. But either you'll be fighting a meter of sorts (BOTW) or it'll be just a matter of pushing on (latest AC games). I don't think any of those mechanics are that great.

Here, it's so dynamic. "A walking simulator" - well, yes, quite literally. The traversal can be so enjoyable. Your loadout, the path you take, it's pretty much up to you. There's no correct answer to anything, but whatever you do requires attention. Most of the game is spent just solitarily wandering around, and somehow that makes for some very enjoyable gameplay. When we got the first peeks of gameplay, I thought to myself that looks dull as fuck. But no, it's actually very involved and entertaining. And with more gear later on, you can get really creative. Also, the trike. Thumbs up for the trike.

But what really caught me by surprise was the online component. Whenever there's a multiplayer game that is almost universally panned, there will be at least a few who keep harping "it's better with friends!". Well no shit Sherlock, pretty much everything is. But in this instance, I'd argue it's better with strangers. You're not directly interacting with other players. Anything you do benefits not only yourself, but some random users too. And... I really like it. It's like 4chan if everyone was nice to each other.

Kojima can come off as incredibly pretentious in interviews. I'm not sure if it's just him, or if something is lost in translation (or if the interviewers are such fanboys that the articles end up too gushing). Whatever may be the case, when I read about how this is a game that connects people and such, I rolled my eyes so hard I almost strained them. But... I think I get what he was going for. It's great to find a piece of equipment someone has left before and that's really helpful at that very moment. And it's nice to see that other people have found your contributions useful too. Without going too much into spoilers, there are some moments where you have to backtrack quite a bit. And that you're able to do so, riding on a highway that you (in very small part) have had a part building - it's satisfying on a level I didn't expect.

No, the game has not made me a better person, nor has it made me believe in humanity any more, I think as a species we're pretty much fucked. But really the random "encounters" with complete strangers have made me a bit more hopeful. Perhaps altruism does exist.
 
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EekTheKat

Member
I think Kojima is onto something here - as I feel the "reward" you get for playing this game feels much more rewarding then yet another gun/sword/axe with slightly better stats and a different skin. The Grind-RPG-fication of every other genre is starting to wear thin.

It feels great in Death Stranding when you see a slew of messages that people used your gear that you left behind /spoiler].
 

Shifty

Member
Annnd I'm burned out. Nothing out of the ordinary though, happens with every open-world game.

I think I finished the story around the 40 hour mark, and put in another 15 hours of deliveries on top.
So, 55 hours, which is damn good by Shifty standards. I don't think Breath of the Wild got close to that out of me before I put it down. Last notable thing I did was find Sam Lake's prepper shelter, so I'm pretty happy with that.

All in all, I give it many likes. Kojima has giant balls of steel for some of the stuff in there, and it's so good to see him make something new with the requisite crazy budget.

I think it did a great job of gradually unfurling its mechanics over the course of the game, and managed to make navigating an open world an enjoyable and engaging primary activity. The item setup was great, very versatile with lots of unique and interesting options, and there's nothing quite like KOing a dude, stealing his box of heavy construction materials, then beaning another guy in the head with it from range before making good your escape.

The online stuff was very cool, and added a genuine sense of appreciation every time I stumbled upon an expertly-placed ladder or bridge in a time of need. Outside of a couple of road sections, I only really leaned into building a lot in the late game when ziplines got introduced, but it felt good to know someone else might get use out of my structures.

I was almost expecting the game to turn into a destiny-style shared world after you complete the main story objective, but that's crazy thinking right there is what that is.

Plot and pacing-wise, I think it's the most complete and cohesive game Kojima has put out since MGS3. It goes crazy places, and has some great moments. While I'm still boggling at the ultimate conclusion and trying to parse the masses of information handed to me over the course of the game, I am thoroughly entertained.

The characters are all great, Guillermo and Dads Mikkelsen in particular. Again, really happy that Kojima got the budget and scope to make something like this after what happened with MGSV. It's a long game, and it has the cutscene content and story hooks to back it up.

If I were to gripe about anything, I'd say Chapter 3 drags a bit but ultimately does a good job of getting you used to the mechanics ahead of the game's tougher challenges. There also don't seem to be as many little easter egg-y touches as there were in the MGS games, but that could just be me missing them.

THAT ONE ON ONE FIGHT WITH HIGGS THOUGH, BRUH.

Best boss in the game imo, having you CQC fight him with only your rope and broken cargo was a great idea. The strand bind animation is fucking awesome, putting the boots to him at long last is satisfying, and being forced to use the cargo for more oomph added a nice bit of extra depth.

The fighting game segment was rad too, it reminded me of the final Ocelot encounter from MGS4 mixed with NieR Automata's Engels battle.

AND THAT HEADBUTT. BAH GAWD KING, HE'S DEAD! Absolutely glorious.

So, great game. Well worth the time, Kojima did it again, he's back, and so forth.

Also, one last thing worth bearing in mind for folks at the endgame:
The 'pass time until the presidential inauguration' objective isn't real, as best I can tell.
You get a bunch of extra interview data and emails as you continue to deliver, but no extra final final cutscene.
 
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